3 times before since 2000, CO has come close—only to fall 1 to 2 votes short. So, I was ecstatic earlier this year when both chambers of the state legislature voted to abolish capital punishment for future crimes and Gov. Polis had promised to sign the bill into law. But the Senate sent the bill to him (with 10 days to sign it) just as Covid-19 cases began multiplying across the nation and I was very worried that this would fall through the cracks in the face of the emergency. Happily, that has not been the case. Gov. Polis has signed the repeal and CO has become the 22nd state (plus DC) to abolish the death penalty!
This is a cause very near to my heart. I believe that the revenge motives that lead to the death penalty stand as a mental block to serious criminal justice reform. I know that it can be shown in numerous studies that the death penalty is applied in racist ways—especially the race of the victim. I have been fighting the death penalty since my teens in FL when Gregg v. Georgia ruled that the death penalty could be constitutional if applied fairly (it has never been applied fairly).. I admit that this is bound up with my own religious views, but I think the wrongness of the death penalty can be argued on policy grounds acceptable to those of many faiths or no particular faith. And my opposition to the death penalty predates my commitment to nonviolence/pacifism overall (a conversion which happened in 1984 while I was serving in the U.S. Army).
I have never lived in a non-death penalty state, and KY, my residence since 1986, does not seem poised to move in this direction any time soon. But I rejoice that the nation is moving away from punishment by death. Three (3) states are under governor-imposed moratoria on ececutions: PA, CA, and OR. If each of them abolish the death penalty, HALF the 50 states will have eliminated this scourge. And given CA’s huge role as a cultural trendsetter (and having the largest death row), it could well speed up this process. Another milestone will be reached when the first state of the old Confederacy moves to abolish the death penalty. As of now, my bet is that VA will be that state.
At any rate, this is a day to celebrate a major human rights milestone in CO! There is hope beyond the current plague state and revenge mentality, folks! Hallelujah!